Sacking device



"June 30, 1942. F, 'J, ERNST 2,288,159-

SACKING DEVICE Filed Sept. 30, 1940 A TTO R NE y.

Patented June 30, 1942 SACKING DEVICE Fredrick J. Ernst, Yakima, Wash; Earl Ernst administrator of said Fredrick J. Ernst, de-

ceased Application September 30, 1940, Serial No. 359,043

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for sacking articles, such as potatoes, oranges, etc. The machine is designed to receive the articles from a grader and carry them along the surface of an elongated passage on an endless belt for deposit in small or large bags or sacks which are held in open condition along one side of the passage.

An adjustable biased baflle board or shearer is employed along the passage to force the articles to one side and into the open bags. The board is manually operated along the passage and is moved from bag to bag as required.

The entire machine is movable from one grader to another and has an overhead storage place for empty bags. vided for holding various size bags in open condition along the sides of the machine and also for givingsubjacent support for bags having various lengths.

An object of the invention is to present an eficient sacking machine that is simple in operation, sturdy in construction and economical to manufacture and operate.

Another object is to provide a manually controlled shearer in a sacking machine that can be easily shifted from sack to sack without loss or damage to the article being sacked.

Other objects, advantages and features of my invention will appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description, the preamble of these specifications and the appended claims.

Applicant is about to illustrate and describe one of the forms of his invention in order to teach one how to make, use and vend the same, but it is to be understood that the drawing and description thereof are not to limit the invention in any sense whatsoever, except as limited by the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows the invention in perspective view.

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of Fig. l with the top removed, and the end of a grader adjacent thereof.

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the invention.

'ii'ie sacking machine consists of a table-like device having four corner uprights I, 2, 3 and 4 which are securely fixed, as by bolting, riveting or welding, to elongated side runners 5, 6, l and 8 and cross end runners 9 and ill as shown.

Special means are prothe motor 20.

able manner, is a deck H for holding a large number of empty sacks 12. The table corners have the casters l3 so that the entire machine can be easily moved about the plant.

Across each end of the machine, there is a shaft l4 supported by the bearing blocks l bolted to the uprights as shown. Each shaftv sprockets, the motor power is transmitted to Fixed to the tops of the uprights, in any suitthe rollers i5 and I! at reduced speed.

sides of a central portion 28. This portion is an elongated metal sheet with a bead 29 therealong to give the partition stiffness. At the end of the partition is welded a bearing block 30 which supports the ends of the partition upon the shafts it between the rollers l6 and ii. The block 30 also serves as a spacer for the rollers i6 and H. The bearing blocks 30 allow the shafts id to freely rotate while supporting the partition 28 in fixed position relative to the entire frame structure.

At spaced intervals along the sides of the machine are sack holders 35 designed to hold each individual sack l2 in a wide open condition to receive the articles from the endless belts. On each side of the machine, there is a long rod 3| having its ends removably supported by pipe straps 32 which are bolted or screwed to the side flanges of the corner uprights l-t. Each sack holder has a short length of angle iron 33 which is attached to its respective rod 3! by short sleeves or pipe nipples 34; the sleeves being welded to their respective angle irons 33. The purpose of this construction is to pivot each sack holder to their respective rods 36 sothat they can be jerked vertically to shake their attached sacks so as to settle the articles to the bottoms of the sacks.

By referring to Fig. 4, it is shown that each sack holder comprises a pair of spaced apart short lengths of pipe 36 and 31 which have the upper end portions thereof welded to the underside of the angle iron 33. Each pipe 36 and 31 has welded to the bottom thereof a hook 38.

Fitting the bore of the pipes 34 and 31 is a bent rod 38 having legs 40 and 4| which slide into the bores of the pipes. A cross bar 42 is provided to support a hook 43 and the corner of a V-shaped bafile element 44. The corner of the baffle and one end of the hook are welded to the cross-bar 42 in the positions shown. Beneath the legs 40 and 4i are welded the hooks 45 and 46.

Spaced from the corner uprights or table legs are vertical rods 41 and 48 which have their ends threaded so that they can be bolted, as shown, to the horizontal flanges of the side runners and 6. Each rod is provided with an adjustable sleeve 49 having a set screw 50 for holding the sleeve in adjusted position. Welded to the sleeves is a metal platform. 5| for giving subjacent. supports for the plurality of bags in the holders 35.

One of the most important featuresof the invention will now be explained. Reference is made to the shiftable baflle plates or shearers 52 in the form of a panel having the curved end 55. One such shearer is provided for each passage just above the endless belts. Obviously, the shearer would have to be closer-to the belt for deflecting walnuts than for deflecting apples or oranges. The curved portion of the shearer extends far enough toward the open mouth of the sack to avoid unnecessary loss or damage to the article being sacked.

Welded to the top of each shearer are the spaced apart sleeves 54 and 55 which are telescoped by the long rods 56 and 51 respectively. The rods 51 are supported at their ends by the angle iron brackets 58 which are securely fixed to the partition 28, as shown, whereas the outer rods 56 are supported by the corner uprights. The uprights and brackets have holes to receive the rod ends which are preferably threaded and have the nuts 59 to hold them in place.

The shearers can be easily 'slid along the rods 56 and 51 by applying manual force at the top edges of the shearers. The articles 60 to be sacked, generally roll or slide down inclined chutes, indicated at 6| and 62. These chutes lead from graders which separate the large and small articles. The endless belts carry the articles along the passages of the machine until they strike the baflles 52 which shift the articles to one side of the passage where they fall into sacks 35.

It is now obvious that the hooks hold the sacks open; the baffle element 44 avoids loss of the articles being sacked; the telescoping pipe 34 and long rod 3| make it easy to substitute other sizes of sack holders; the adjustability between the rods 39 and pipes 36-41 accommodate sacks of various widths within certain limits; and platforms 5| which support the bottoms of various sack lengths; in conjunction with the shearer 52, all contribute toward making a portable versatile sacking machine which is simple in construction.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for unloading belt conveyors of articles, an endless belt, roller means coupled to the belt at its ends for supporting it mechanism for rotating the roller means, a pair of spaced bars longitudinally of the belt and substantially the length thereof, said bars being spaced above and substantially over the longitudinal edges of the belt, a loose sleeve on each bar having attached coupling means to hold a plate, a plate having a portion of its ends in the coupling means, said coupling means forming an acute angle with the sleeves so that the plate is positioned obliquely across the belt for the purposes described.

2. A device for unloading belt conveyors of articles comprising a pair of endless belts spaced apart and having an intervening upright partition, a shaft at the ends of the belts having rollers for transmitting power to the belts, a bearing block on each shaft separating the rollers thereon and supporting the partition, a frame supporting the shafts, a rod along each edge of each belt and supported by the frame over the belt edges, a shearer over each belt, each shearer having slide means at their ends and engaging the rods over their respective belts, said shearers comprising rectangular plates with bottom edges slightly spaced over their respective belts, said shearers being manually controlled and shiftable along the surfaces of their respective belts for the purposes described.

FREDRICK J. ERNST. 

